The present invention relates to an outboard motor provided with an electrical equipment holder which is mounted to an outer portion of an engine of the outboard motor in consideration of countermeasure against vibration or like.
In a technical field of an outboard motor, when it is required to mount electrical equipments or parts to an outer surface of an engine of the outboard motor in a manner for preventing the electrical equipments from being vibrated, the electrical equipments are fitted in a holder formed of an elastic material such as rubber and the holder is then fixed to the outer surface of the engine through a metallic bracket or like, or the electrical equipments are directly fixed to the metallic bracket, which is then fixed to the outer surface of the engine through a cushioning member formed of an elastic material.
However, in the electrical equipment holding structures mentioned above, many elements or parts are required to fix the electrical equipments to the engine outer surface, and hence, a manufacturing cost is inevitably increased. Moreover, the metallic bracket has a heavy weight and occupies a wide mounting space, also providing a disadvantageous problem. Furthermore, in the conventional structure for mounting the electrical equipment, in order to prevent erroneous arrangement or location of the electrical equipments or wires (wirings), there are also provided problems of mounting direction of the electrical equipments and arranging the wires or like extending from the electrical equipments.
An object of the present invention is to substantially eliminate defects or drawbacks encountered in the prior art mentioned above and to provide an outboard motor having an improved electrical equipment holder of an outboard motor having a reduced parts or elements, a light weight and compact structure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an outboard motor having an improved electrical equipment holder having an improved a vibration-proof property and capable of preventing electrical equipments or parts from being erroneously assembled or arranged and from being wetted.
These and other objects can be achieved according to the present invention by providing an outboard motor comprising:
an engine holder;
an engine disposed above the engine holder in a mounted usable state of the outboard motor, the engine being an in-line multi-cylinder type and comprising a crankcase in which a crankshaft extends vertically perpendicularly, a cylinder block disposed rear side of the crankcase, and a cylinder head disposed rear side of the cylinder block;
an oil pan disposed below the engine holder;
an electrical equipment; and
an electrical equipment holder having an electrical equipment holding portion for holding the electrical equipments,
wherein electrical equipment holder is mounted to the engine through a fixing portion, the electrical equipment holding portion and the fixing portion being integrally formed of an elastic material.
In preferred embodiments, the fixing portion is positioned to substantially intermediate portion of the electrical equipment, in a length direction thereof, which is held by the electrical equipment holding portion.
The electrical equipment holding portion is provided with an assembling direction defining means for defining the assembling direction of the electrical equipment and also provided with a wiring (wire) holding means for holding a wiring extending from the electrical equipment. The electrical equipment holding portion may further be provided with a wiring direction defining means for defining the wiring extending from the electrical equipment.
The holder includes a plurality of electrical equipment holding portions. The plurality of electrical equipment holding portions are formed with stages or steps so as to form a recessed portion therebetween. The fixing portion is disposed in the recessed portion between the staged electrical equipment holding portions.
The holder is detachably provided with a cover member covering a terminal portion of the electrical equipment.
According to the present invention of the structures and characters mentioned above, since a metallic bracket which has been used for the conventional structure is not needed, the number of the elements or parts can be eliminated, and hence, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the whole weight of the outboard motor can be made small and the size thereof is made compact. According to the specific location of the fixing portion to the engine, the vibration of the electrical equipment due to the engine operation can be significantly reduced or eliminated, thus improving the vibration-proof property of the electrical equipments.
Furthermore, according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, erroneous assembling of the electrical equipments can be assembled with less error and the wiring can be easily and surely made.
The location of the plurality of electrical equipment holding portions can further contribute the reduction of the number of the elements or parts, the reduction of the manufacturing cost, and moreover, the whole weight of the outboard motor can be made small and the size thereof is made compact. The staged arrangement of the holding portions makes easy the arrangement of the wiring of the electrical equipment, and since the electrical equipments can be effectively disposed in the recessed portions between the staged portions, the balanced arrangement thereof can be achieved and the vibration-proof property can be attained.
Still furthermore, the provision of the cover covering the terminals of the electrical equipments can improve the water-proof property and a property for preventing short-circuiting as well as improvement of an outer appearance.
The nature and further characteristic features of the present invention will be made more clear from the following descriptions made with reference to the accompanying drawings.